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Let's keep rampant powers in check

Arroyo Grande

Kudos to New Times (“Morro Bay bar patron maced and tased,” June 14) and Shredder (“Who you gonna call?” June 14) for documenting the civil rights violations of the Morro Bay Police Department.

If the officers had a warrant to arrest Martinez, they had every right to arrest him. Otherwise, Martinez was not obligated to walk outside, speak with them, look at them, or do any other damned thing he didn’t want to do. Again, blood-sucking lawyers may say otherwise, but to quote Jefferson: “On every question ... let us carry ourselves back to the time when the Constitution was adopted, recollect the spirit manifested in the debates, and instead of trying what meaning may be squeezed out of the text, or intended against it, conform to the probable one in which it was passed.”

So what does that founding document—the supreme law of our land—say about this case?

Fourth Amendment: “The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to
be seized.”

Clearly they had no warrant for any suspected crime.

Hopefully the citizens of Morro Bay will rally to check the powers of roaming men with weapons and a distorted view of what used to be known as being a “peace officer.”